Sports Medicine Master System

Chen Yu finished his long speech and paused, picking up the glass of water on the table to take a drink.

He also gave them time to think.

The expressions on the faces of everyone present varied—some were shocked, others silent.

Chen Yu’s proposal was so radical it was almost unthinkable.

"Dr. Chen, I’m afraid that’s not feasible."

Before long, someone took the initiative to voice their doubts.

"Take table tennis, for example. There are state sports teams, coaches who scout for promising new talent, and various county and city-level competitions. Players gain experience through these matches, improve their skills level by level, and eventually join the National Team to represent the country."

"This model has been successful for many sports, but football and basketball are different."

"It’s because of the income."

He glanced at everyone present and continued, "Table tennis players, for instance, receive allowances and salaries from their sports schools. These are all state subsidies—the ’resources’ that Dr. Chen mentioned."

"Their income is very limited, but the athletes accept it because the earning potential for that sport is only so high."

"But basketball and football are different. If you’re good, you can join a club or play abroad and easily earn millions, or even more. So why would they stay in the National Team system and focus on playing for the country instead of playing in a professional league?"

"Just look at Da Zhi."

He hesitated for a moment before saying the name.

Li Yuanwei’s gaze darkened slightly.

But he had to admit the man had a point.

Wang Zhizhi was willing to have a falling out with the National Team, to the point of being expelled, just to stay and play in the United States. Ultimately, it was because the income was higher over there.

Yao Ming even threatened to retire on the spot to go to the NBA, which was the same principle.

’I’ve trained to a high level and can go earn big money, so why should I stay with the National Team for your measly, fixed salary?’

And from the other side, the country worked so hard and spent so much money to develop you. If you just up and leave, what happens to the nation’s investment?

"Dr. Chen, have you thought about how to resolve this conflict?" Li Yuanwei asked.

Chen Yu pushed his water glass aside and smiled. "You can’t."

Li Yuanwei froze, his brows furrowing.

Chen Yu said, "Gentlemen, you’re concerned about the high development costs and getting nothing in return, but it’s not like you get nothing. You get results in major competitions and national honor, don’t you?"

"You always think an investment must yield a return, but in reality, it doesn’t have to."

"You can just treat football and basketball as specialized national sports. You provide the funding, develop a group of athletes, achieve good results, and boost national pride. Isn’t that enough?"

"Why must you obsess over investment and returns? Worrying about investment and returns is something professional sports should be concerned with."

At this point, an official sitting opposite Chen Yu immediately interjected, "Then wouldn’t we lose a fortune? The country doesn’t have that kind of money. Besides, what if we invest a lot and don’t get any results in the end?"

Chen Yu shook his head inwardly.

That line of thinking was fundamentally wrong.

’You’re not a private, non-governmental organization like FIFA. You’re the Sports Bureau, a government agency. Why are you so fixated on making money and turning a profit?’

’Plenty of government agencies lose money. What makes the Sports Bureau so special that it absolutely has to be profitable?’

Before Chen Yu could rebut, Yuan Weimin, who was sitting in the middle, interjected, "I believe Dr. Chen means that we should separate specialized national sports from professional sports, is that right?"

He looked toward Chen Yu.

Chen Yu nodded.

’It figures he’s a leader. His ability to grasp the main point is impressive.’

"Professional sports are professional sports. You should treat them as a business. Take China, for example. The potential of the sports market is huge, so create professional leagues. Let companies and individuals with vision pour money into creating teams."

"They’ll be willing to pay high prices to bring in players to make the games exciting. Whether they ultimately profit or lose money is their own business, as long as they can sell tickets and build up the market."

"For instance, if someone was willing to spend the money, offer an annual salary of thirty million US dollars, and poach top-tier NBA stars to come to China and build their own team, then you could immediately have your very own NBA."

"But you’re always thinking about improving your own players and the league’s level, restricting the number of foreign players and their playing time. From a business perspective, that’s just wrong."

"If I can spend money to hire foreign players, make the games exciting, and attract people to buy tickets and watch, that’s how I make money. Only then will I be more willing to invest more money into the operation."

Chen Yu had traveled to so many cities, watched games in person, and interviewed many audience members.

The most common complaint was that the games were boring and not worth the ticket price.

"As for whether local players can improve their skills or get playing time, that’s their own problem. If professional sports are profitable, you won’t have to push them from behind. They’ll work hard to improve themselves and pursue a professional career on their own."

"You have a huge population and massive potential in the sports market. Since you want to create a good league, then you should open it up completely. Treat it as a business, and don’t mix it up with competitive national sports."

"For competitive national sports, what you want is results, so you should fund and develop the athletes yourselves."

Over the past half-month, Chen Yu had traveled to many places, visiting several Jia A league teams and having in-depth discussions with their managers.

And Chen Yu had discovered several problems.

For example, when the league was first established, some teams absorbed the resources of the local state sports teams without paying much for them.

Then, some people within the local state sports team system became unhappy. ’I worked so hard to raise this chicken, and you’re just going to take it, kill it, and eat it?’

Of course, that in itself wasn’t the issue. But when the National Team needed the club to contribute players and resources, and wanted a share of the profits, the clubs became unhappy. They felt, ’I worked so hard to build up this team. On what grounds can you take my money? I want to make a profit, too!’

’Besides, if I hand my players over to you and they get injured, it hurts my team.’

In short, it was a convoluted mess, with each side feeling like they were getting the short end of the stick.

So it would be better to just separate them completely. You do your thing, and I’ll do mine. That would be true commercialization, not the kind Li Yuanwei was proposing now.

Many people in the room furrowed their brows at once.

Just then, Yan Shiduo suddenly said, "Based on that, it sounds quite similar to the automobile industry. First, you bring in foreign investment and form joint ventures to build up the industry, and only then do you consider promoting the development of domestic car companies."

Yuan Weimin was taken aback for a second. A flicker of brilliance flashed in his eyes before quickly vanishing.

After a moment of thought, Yuan Weimin said, "Dr. Chen, let’s set that issue aside for now. I’d like to ask you, if we were to proceed as you suggest, using the specialized national sports approach, what would be the specific steps?"

Chen Yu gestured with the folder in his hand.

"It’s in the file. First, reclaim your state sports team systems. Then, establish a professional training system, upgrade the training standards and equipment, and then select a group of promising talents for specialized training. I’ve detailed the specifics in the document, so I won’t elaborate further."

Yuan Weimin immediately started flipping through the document, reading it carefully.

It was quite detailed.

And it was essentially the same system used to develop weightlifters and divers.

The difference was that Chen Yu could be highly involved, helping to bring in training machinery and equipment, training the coaches and Trainers, and so on.

"Alright."

Yuan Weimin closed the folder and said with a smile, "I’ll take this document back and study it thoroughly. Dr. Chen, you’ve brought us many new concepts today, and I’m very grateful. But they are very new, and there are many issues we need to consider. For now, let’s adjourn the meeting here. We can discuss the specific actions later."

"Thank you for all your hard work running around during this time."

He rose to his feet, still smiling.

Everyone else in the room also stood up.

A matter of this magnitude, whether it would work or not, couldn’t be decided so simply.

Chen Yu nodded and didn’t say much more. After a few simple pleasantries, he left with his assistant, Hunter.

It wasn’t until they had left the Sports Bureau and were in the car back to the hotel that Hunter asked, "Sir, do you think they will agree to your proposal?"

Chen Yu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, most likely not."

Hunter was stunned and quickly asked why.

Chen Yu sighed and said with a wry smile, "The issues involved are too complex, and there are far too many vested interests. It’s not something that can be changed so easily."

These past few days, the more Chen Yu learned about China’s football and basketball markets, the more he felt it was a colossal mess.

It looked prosperous on the surface, but in reality, it was sliding into an abyss.

And just as he had said, with so many interests involved behind the scenes, how could it be changed just like that?

After he joined FIFA, he wanted to make some changes. Never mind major things like reducing unnecessary competitions—even simple initiatives like promoting health certificates, increasing investment in medical equipment, and training programs for medical staff were met with constant obstruction. The difficulty in pushing them forward was astonishing.

In the end, it all came down to vested interests.

The Football Association and the Basketball Association took a significant cut of the profits from the leagues each year, and it looked like their future income would only grow. Would they really be willing to give a part of that up?

If they gave it up, they would lose control, their power would be diminished—would all those people, from top to bottom, be happy about that?

Even Yuan Weimin himself, who was about to retire, would he still have the ability to push for such a massive change?

So after his investigation, Chen Yu had also made it clear to Old Kolangelo and Stern that the money in this mess wasn’t easy to earn. If they insisted on getting involved, he would only act as a liaison and would not contribute any funds himself.

As for himself, he might as well just stick to earning his consulting fees honestly.

As for why he brought it all up—well, he had been running around for so long and consulted so many people, he couldn’t let all that effort go to waste. He figured he might as well offer a suggestion.

And in fact, things went just as Chen Yu had predicted.

Over the next few days, Chen Yu had a few more meetings with Yuan Weimin and the others to discuss some details.

But nothing ever came of it.

Chen Yu wasn’t prepared to wait around any longer. He had a pile of things to deal with back in the United States, especially with March just around the corner. He had to prepare for his own prospect training camp, and there was a lot to do.

However, on this very day, just as Chen Yu had arrived at the airport and was waiting for his flight to take off, he suddenly received a call from Yuan Weimin.

"Dr. Chen, a certain leader would like to meet you to discuss your proposal in more detail."